October, 2012 Prayer Requests

Yesterday I took my oldest son to the pediatrician for a check-up. On these visits, I often thank God for the access that our family has to medical care. I think of so many of the African mothers I met who had to watch their children suffer through illness, powerless to help them in any way. There was no doctor in their village. They didn't have the money necessary to get them to a doctor and pay for any needed medications. So we may say, "Send money to Africa. Send doctors. Help them!" Well, it's not quite so simple. I am reading a book at the moment. It's by an anthropologist and her husband who lived among the Beng to study their culture and beliefs. The husband often treated people who would come to them with injuries or illnesses. He tells of a neighbor who came to him with a gash on his hand that had become infected. He washed and dressed the wound and sent the man on his way, telling him to keep it clean. The man returned each day to have the dressing changed, and each day he came with a dirty bandage. "[The author] began to lecture him again about proper bandage cleanliness. Jean translated Kouassikro's reply. "He wants to know why." "Because," I said, but then stopped. How to explain bacteria? "Well," I started again with Jean's help, "there are these little animals, so tiny that you can't see them without a..." I paused: what would "microscope" mean to Kouassikro? "Without a special machine. But these little creatures are so dangerous they can kill you if you don't keep your wound clean." I watched Kouassikro's face slowly harden into a deeper and deeper skepticism. "Little animals?" "Yes. Very, very tiny ones." Clearly this was one of the most ridiculous stories he'd ever been told, but as I was kind enough to give him medicine, Kouassikro nodded politely, thanked me again, and returned to his compound. How could I blame him? Murderous, infintesimally small animals and special detection machines sounded implausible even to me." (from Parallel Worlds, by Alma Gottlieb and Phillip Graham) You see what I mean? It's complicated. We can't always just rush in with our Western methods and medicines and expect those of other cultures to wholeheartedly accept the knowledge we have to offer. The Beng usually correlate sickness with spirits and/or witchcraft. When they are ill, it's because they have angered the spirits of the earth or because someone has bewitched them. It's what their parents have told them. And their parents' parents. And their parents' parents' parents. I start to think about this and get so overwhelmed by the needs of the Beng- physical and spiritual. But then I am reminded of Matthew 19:26. "Humanly speaking, it is impossible. But with God, everything is possible." So pray with me this month for the Beng. Pray that God would bring physical and spiritual healing to this precious people that live half a world away. Thanks for praying.